Raghubir Singh

Raghubir Singh helped make color documentary photography intellectually serious at a time when many art institutions favored black and white. His 1974 book Ganga: Sacred River of India is one of the works most tied to that reputation.

Singh photographed Indian streets, cities, landscapes, festivals, and everyday public life. He was born in Jaipur in 1942, and much of his work returned to Indian geography and visual culture.

Singh admired Henri Cartier-Bresson's sense of timing and geometry, but he worked in saturated color rather than Cartier-Bresson's classic black and white. That combination made Singh a bridge between documentary street photography and color-driven modern image making.

Ganga: Sacred River of India is a strong starting point because it shows his use of color, movement, and layered street scenes. Later books such as River of Colour also show how he built a long-term visual account of India before his death in 1999.